The Bridge Flashcards
What was The Bridge a co-production between?
Filmlance International (Sweden) and Nimbus Film (Denmark)
Where was The Bridge broadcast in Sweden and Denmark?
SVT in Sweden
DR in Denmark
Who funded the third season of The Bridge?
The Copenhagen Film Fund. This co-funding resulted in more Danish crew members being employed on the third season.
€1 million grant was received from Creative Europe MEDIA for Series 3 and helped to support and maintain the programme’s high production values.
Where was The Bridge broadcast in the UK?
BBC 4
Who was the main distributor for The Bridge?
ZDF Enterprise
How many countries was The Bridge distributed to worldwide?
150 countries worldwide.
What did the marketing for The Bridge in the UK focus on?
The BBC 4 branding connotes recognition of quality.
What parts of the show did the marketing strategies focus on?
Team of detectives - establishes a sense of community.
Character of Saga - a troubled anti hero.
The Swedish/Danish setting - iconic Oresund bridge.
How did the Radio Times market The Bridge?
Used a front cover image of Saga in her recognisable overcoat with the anchor ‘Hot Scandinavian dramas for cold winter nights’
What international remakes of The Bridge were made and what does this illustrate?
The Tunnel - French production
US version The Bridge set on the Mexican border.
This illustrates the success of The Bridge.
Why are international co-productions attractive to producers?
The collaboration means that economic responsibilities can be shared and the more contributors, the bigger the production budget.
How can Hesmondhalgh be validated through the BBC’s production of The Bridge?
Vertical integration - The Bridge was a Swedish/Danish co-production, received funding from several production companies and was distributed globally by ZDF Enterprises.
Formatting their cultural products - audiences can anticipate what to expect from new products through familiarity with genre conventions, then the risk in minimised.
Marketing was grouped together with Borgen, The Killing, Wallander.
What is BBC’s primary role, according to what they claim?
To reflect a range of UK and international arts, music and culture… should be culturally enriching.
Why may The Bridge have been aired on BBC 4?
It reflects a less mainstream and more niche audience.
How can Stuart Hall’s preferred reading be applied to The Bridge?
Feminist audiences are likely to feel empowered by the inclusion of powerful women and the representation of a lesbian relationship.
An audience may understand and accept the producers intended meaning by including some typical conventions of the crime drama whilst offering something different and more challenging.
How can Stuart Hall’s negotiated reading be applied to The Bridge?
Audiences may enjoy the typical codes and conventions of a crime drama, but feel more uncomfortable with the specific focus of the narrative.
Swedish and Danish audiences may engage with the drama but feel that the cultural depictions are stereotypical.
How can Stuart Hall’s oppositional reading be applied to The Bridge?
Audiences may struggle to find Saga a sympathetic character - unable to emotionally connect to her.
A more conservative audience may respond negatively to the Swedish liberal attitudes to sex, gender, and political correctness.
What are certain references to Film Noir that are seen in The Bridge to show the hybridity of the genre?
A dark, pessimistic tone and mood
A bleak melancholy aesthetic
A sexually attractive femme fatale functioning as a strong protagonist.
Disillusioned, flawed anti-hero (detective), often with a past
Closed frames to connote entrapment
Moral decline and ambiguity with a focus on the darker elements of life
Iconography – trench coat.
What do Saga’s clothing codes suggest about her character?
Saga’s versions of the same outfit and colour scheme contribute to the enigma surrounding her character and her behaviour traits.
What does the setting of the vast Nordic landscape connote?
A sense of isolation and alienation.
Links to the melancholic setting created.
How is a sense of entrapment created through the setting?
Corridors - scene where Saga is running away from her mother up the stairs.
Dimly lit locations - warehouse crime scene.
What does the opening introduction of Saga in the lift symbolize?
